Meiji Jingu Shrine 明治神宮

This was my attempt to dress like Japanese to blend in with the crowds. I normally wear sport shoes when I am travelling as I will be walking a lot and my feet really need a good pair of shoes. The plan for the day was mainly to walk around Shibuya so I decided that I can at least dress up nicer for once.

Passed by this shop selling Taiyaki (鲷鱼烧) - Japanese fish-shaped cake. The shop offers fillings with red bean paste or custard, I went with custard as we are not a big fan of red bean. 

The batter is poured into a fish-shaped mold and filled with fillings. The mold is cooked on charcoal and it’s ready to serve!  

We made a short visit to the Meiji Jingu Shrine (明治神宮) before meeting up with Yuri for lunch. Took a JR train to Harajuku station and we saw the cute Hachiko bus!

Meiji Jingu Shrine is just a short walk from Harajuku station. You will know that you have arrived at the correct location when you see the mighty Torii at the entrace to Meiji Jingu Shrine.

The Meiji Shrine complex is really big and we walked for about 15 minutes to reach the main area. There are other halls and galleries within the complex with clear directions shown.

Sake Barrels

We were greeted by this water fountain once we entered the main yard of Meiji Jingu. Without any instructions given, we observed and followed what everybody was doing – scoop some water to wash both hands and take a sip of the water. It is said to ritually purify yourself before entering the shrine.

The shrine is surrounded by north, south, east and west gate. Our trek from Harajuku station leads us to enter through the South gate.

The shrine building

We made our prayer following the instructions written: flip a coin into the offering box, clap our hands together and say our prayer, then clap their hands twice we when are done.

Trying to read some of the prayers left by visitors from all over the world. 

No photos allowed - image taken from google

Before we left Meiji Jingu, we bought a few Omamori for ourselves and families to pray for their health and safety.

Opposite the Juyosho (amulet office), there are a place for visitors to return their omamori. I asked Yuri why are them returning/throwing their omamori and she explained that the omamori needs to be returned when it has served it's purpose or they normally return it one year later. Soooo.. i guess we should make a yearly trip to Japan!